Federico Falcone bid farewell to Maltese football yesterday as the striker agreed a deal to join Terengganu FC in the Malaysian league.

Terengganu FC officials had been engaged in talks with their counterparts from Valletta over the signature of Falcone for the last few weeks but a deal was finally struck during the weekend.

Falcone, whose contract at the Maltese champion club was due to expire at the end of the season, has already left the islands on his way to Malaysia where he will put pen to paper on a lucrative one-year contract with an option to extend his stay with the club for a further year at the end of the 2017 season.

The Argentine had joined Valletta at the start of last season and played a leading role in helping them claim a 23rd Premier League title when netting 16 goals to finish second in the scorers’ list, four short of Mario Fontanella, of Floriana.

This season, Falcone struggled to repeat the same kind of scoring form however as he had to deal with niggling injuries and only managed five goals after 16 Premier League matches were played.

At Terengganu FC, Falcone will be the second player with BOV Premier League experience after fellow Argentine Mauricio Mazzetti Latini. The former Birkirkara defender has also agreed join the Malaysian side earlier this month.

Valletta are now expected to step up their chase to get a valid replacement for Falcone.